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Often in applied social science we provide answers, which policymakers do not ask, and
we fail to adequately research some of their more pressing questions. There is obviously
a divide between the demand for knowledge and its supply, which needs bridging. In my
view in the case of Labor Economics, IZA World of Labor is the answer to this
discrepancy and I am happy to have a chance to contribute

Google search activity data are an
unconventional survey full of unbiased, revealed answers in need of the
right question

Using Google search activity data can help
detect, in real time and at high frequency, a wide spectrum of breaking
socio-economic trends around the world. This wealth of data is the result of
an ongoing and ever more pervasive digitization of information. Search
activity data stand in contrast to more traditional economic measurement
approaches, which are still tailored to an earlier era of scarce computing
power. Search activity data can be used for more timely, informed, and
effective policy making for the benefit of society, particularly in times of
crisis. Indeed, having such data shifts the relation between theory and the
data to support it.